purplegirl & beerman: Out of the Ashes

Day 35

A late start saw us walk the 3km from our flat into the city centre in time for morning tea. Dresden has a gorgeous park called the Gross Garten and our apartment is just a block from the end of it. It's in winter mode at the moment but must be delightful in spring & summer. The gold paint guys must be out and about at the moment too - this statue was in the Gross Garten but we saw lots of other freshly painted gold all over the city.

We stopped on the way at a Vodafone store and a lovely little fellow sorted us with a new SIM card – it will last us the remainder of our trip.

On the 16^th February 1945 Dresden lay in ruins. In the preceding days more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices were dropped on the city resulting in a firestorm that destroyed over 6.5 km² of the city centre and killed around 25,000 people. Today Dresden is a beautiful, thriving, vibrant city with an incredible array of historical buildings, museums, art galleries and the like. It’s rise from the ashes of those dreadful few days is testament to the sheer tenacity of the people.

Looking initially for the tourist information centre we came to the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady). Consecrated in 1735, the gutted remains collapsed on February 16^th 1945. Being on the wrong side of the iron curtain meant the rubble wasn’t even cleared till 1993. By 2005 the re-building was finished, complete with a new cross for the tower, given by the people of the UK.

As much original materials as possible was collected, sorted, numbered and re-used. The amazing baroque altar had escaped the worst of the collapse and was brought back to life, and the interior painting followed the original plans. From all over the Saxony region, people sent wedding photos and these were also used to help in the reconstruction. They’ve done an amazing job because the church is truly beautiful inside.

Heading down towards the Elbe River for a quick walk along the Bruhl’s Terrace before heading back in the direction of the Zwinger.

Finding ourselves at the back door of the Kreuzkirche we popped in for a look. Also smashed during the Dresden bombing, it is also now a really quite beautiful church.

There's a modern addition I'm not sure if I like or not. It seems out of place in terms of its design. Made of Meissen Porcelain this is a memorial to all those who died as a result of the February 1945 bombing.

Leaving the Dresden Castle for tomorrow, we wanted to check out the Zwinger. One of Dresden's 'big 5' is the Opera House, designed like so many others by Gottfried Semper in 1841. Burnt (1869) bombed (1945) and flooded (2002) it is a stunning building.

I’m still at a bit of a loss as to what it’s purpose was other than part palace, part defence, part festival grounds, part keeping up with (or possibly one-upping) the French Kings. It’s now a museum complex that is also a re-build of the original destroyed in 1945. No matter what it was or its uses now – it’s a fabulous complex.